The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1887-12-02
A LOCOMOTIVE LEFT DZIrIND.


a LOCOMOTIVE LEFT DZirIgD.
At length we reached the Etowah rivna'
and safely passed over the great bridge
at that point. No stop was made, though
the first serious cause for anxiety was
here visible. Hitherto everything had
worked exactly as VIC had calculated, and
our confidence in our leader and in final
success was correspondingly increased;
but on side track which connected with
little branch road that ran up the
river about five miles to the Etowah iron
works and rolling mills, there stood
locomotive, 1t was but q short distance
from us, and the smoke from the funnel
showed too plainly that it was ready for
work, THUG constituting an element of the
most dangerous character which had not
been embraced In our calculations. Il
was named the Yonah---a private en-
CINE used by the owners of the works for
their own purposes. Thoroughly as An
drews had explored the road, he had no
knowledge OF its existence until the mo-
ment when he saw it standing on the side
track not dozen yards away, and looking
as il it was ready to enter upon race
was still thirteen miles to Kingston, and
the enemy, if there was any direct pur-
suit, would be able to get nm engine there
much sooner than we had supposed posi-
bic. Several men were gathered about IL,
but not enough to make an assault seem
very formidable to our party. At the
first sight. Knight said to Andrews, "We
had better destroy that and the big
bridge, but Andrews refused with the
remark, ut won't make any difference"
Nearly all critics OF tho expedition who
knew of the presence of this locomotive
for long time L did not, as / was shut
mp in the box car-are disposed to think
that here Andrews made % most unac-
countablo mistake. But this is far from
certain.
1t must be remembered that the burn
ing of this bridge formed no part of An
drews' original plan, and could have ac-
complished nothing more toward the
furthering of Mitchels plans than tho
burning of the Oostenaula bridge. The
local freight train was now due, and il it
came in sight while we were engaged in
destroying the Yonah, or the bridge,
and getting the alarm, rs would be almost
inevitable under the circumstances,
should get away from us and run back to
Kingston, or should run on us and cause
n wreck, our situation would be far worse
than with this engine left behind us. But
even il we could be assured that the local
would not como, but remain for us at
Kingston, still the attack here would
alarm the enemy, and we would be fol-
lowed from this point as readily as from
Big Shanty, but eighteen miles further up
the road. It would be but little more
than an hours gallop to Kingston, where
a train for pursuit would, surely he found.
The capture at Big Shanty assured us of
a longer start under any circumstances
than seemed possible if we stopped To
strike Il blow here.
Leaving the engine and bridge behind,
we glided on through Gainesville, town
of considerable size, where there were
many disappointed passengers on the
platform, and continued without incident
until we reached Cass station. The town
CT Cassvilie is some distance from the
railroad, but the station was important
for us as the regular place for taking on
wood and water. Here we stopped and
began to wood up. William Russell, the
tender, was naturally curious about the
appearance of such small train running
on the time Of the morning mall with no
passengers and none of the regular hands.
Here Andrews told n most adroit and
carefully planned story, with enough Of
foundation TO make il probable. lie
claimed To have been sent by Gen. Beau
regard, who was in desperate straits for
ammunition, to impress train, have 1t
loaded with powder and run it through
at lightning speed Had he been pressed
more closely, he could have produced
passes proving himself worthy of belief
Bnt it was not necessary to 60 so far.
Uhe very appearance of Andrews, tall,
commanding and perfectly self possessed,
speaking like one who had long been nc
customed to authority, was so much like
the ideal southern officer that Russel's
eredence was won at once. lie knew very
well that after such n battle as Pittsburg
Landing it was natural that powder
should be scarce, and il it did not come at
once, what more natural than to send for
It? Seeing the impression that he had
made, Andrews, who, of course, did not
work ut throwing on wood, hut left that
to his companions, asked il he could not
he supplied with n schedule of the read,
as It might be useful. Russell, in his
patriotic fervor, took down and handed
out his own schedule, saying that he
would "scnd his shirt to Beauregard' IL
the latter wanted It! When asked after
ward if he did not suspect q man who
made such an unreasonable demand he
answered: "No; I would rs soon have
suspected jefferson Davis himself as one
who talked with the assurance that An
drews did"
We were now within seven miles Of
kingston. resupplied with wood and
water, without having met The slightest
hfndrapce and with full schedule OF the
Hpad. But at Kingston we had more rea-
IN TO apprehcnd danger than anywhere
e1e along the route. A branch road from
BONE CONNECTED there with the main
Eek, and the morning train from that
.0uwn would be awaiting our arrival.
This, with the local freight which we